Beyoncé Sends Donald Trump Campaign Cease-and-Desist Over ‘Freedom’ Use (Updated)
UPDATE (Aug. 21 @ 9:53 p.m. ET): The Donald Trump campaign video featuring Beyoncé’s “Freedom” has been deleted from Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung’s X account.
ORIGINAL STORY (Aug. 21 @ 7:55 p.m. ET): Beyoncé‘s record label and music publisher have sent a cease-and-desist to Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign over its use of the megastar’s song “Freedom” in a social media video, Billboard has confirmed. The news was first reported by Rolling Stone.
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In the offending clip, which was posted to Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung‘s X account, “Freedom” plays over footage of the Republican presidential candidate stepping off a plane. The video arrived long after the song had become the official theme song for the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, with Vice President Harris playing the song at her first presidential campaign rally earlier this summer after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her candidacy. The Harris-Walz campaign’s use of the track, including in multiple campaign ads and at the Democratic National Convention, has been done with Beyoncé’s permission.
As of this writing, the Trump video using “Freedom” remains on Cheung’s X account.
This is far from the first time Trump has run afoul of an artist for using their song at campaign events and elsewhere without permission. On Aug. 11, lawyers for the Isaac Hayes estate filed a notice of copyright infringement and threatened further legal action against the Trump campaign over its use of Hayes’ “Hold On, I’m Coming” at multiple Trump rallies without authorization between 2022 and 2024. Other artists who have objected to Trump’s use of their songs over the years include The Rolling Stones, Rihanna, Adele and Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler.
Chris Eggertsen
Billboard
